Talking About Love
by Ksrjah-Sassypringles
Summary: Shiki's boundless curiosity never seizes to mortify Rebecca.


Talking About Love

K+

Shiki's boundless curiosity never seizes to mortify Rebecca.

Romance/Humor/Friendship

XxXx

Really, she should have seen this coming, Rebecca mused, her heart doing strange things in her chest. It felt like it was strangling itself, but also running its own personal Triathlon. No, she hadn't been being chased by a herd of deranged robots, nor was she getting herself into some silly shenanigans trying to get the next top viral video.

No, Rebecca was sitting across from her strange new friend, waiting for their breakfast to arrive. Rebecca played with the tips of her pale blonde hair, her face getting redder and redder with every passing moment of silence. The boy constantly asked questions, if there was something that didn't confuse him about her world, they hadn't found it yet. So she mentally kicked herself for being so caught off guard this time, Rebecca was an up and coming _network star_ for goodness sake. She wasn't supposed to be easily flustered!

"So?" Shiki finally piped up, a little ire in his tone, "Why did you get all quiet? Did I ask something _taboo_?" He asked, ducking his head, as he shifted his eyes around the quaint diner. When he saw no one was looking at him like he had summoned the devil, he fixed Rebecca with a puzzled look.

Shiki, for his part, was finally adjusting to social cues. Well, Kind of. The boy still embarrassed the entire _soul_ out of her more so than not, but every day he seemed to be less likely to go up to some random stranger and ask for their friendship.

"I-I don't think I'm the best person to ask." Rebecca cursed her unsteady voice, "I mean," She cleared her throat, "I've never really been in a romantic relationship before. I'm about as knowledgeable on the subject as you."

He didn't need to know that she would make Happy watch rom-coms with her whenever she got shot down by her recent crush. He also didn't need to know that the collection of ice cream gallons in her freezer were for those such occasions.

"So you also don't know why that guy with the pink hair was mushing his face against that girl's face and pressing her against the alley wall? Weird." Shiki mused allowed, brow furrowed.

Rebecca thought back to the couple they had passed on their way to the diner. She had to practically drag Shiki away from studying the obviously couple making out against the brick wall of a vacant alley. The pink haired guy didn't even pause in his administrations, ignoring their presence even when his blonde lover cried out in alarm when she caught Shiki gawking at them. Rebecca grabbed Shiki by the collar of his red jacket so hard, he gagged when she yanked him further down the street.

The waitress saved her from having to respond. She gave Shiki his egg sandwich first, then placed Rebecca's 'Hungry Man Special' in front of her. Scrambled Eggs, home fries, greasy bacon, sausage links, cinnamon raisin toast, and two extra-large pancakes. If Rebecca died right now, she would die satisfied.

But before she could dig in to her meal, Happy who was seated next to her continued the conversation. "Don't let Rebecca trick you, she knows what those two were doing. They were kissing because they were most likely a couple."

"Coup-le?" Shiki said in between bites of cheesy egg and thick buttery toast.

Rebecca made a sound of betrayal, eyes wide at Happy. The robo-cat smiled, unapologetic.

"Uh," Rebecca poured some maple syrup onto the pancakes, "A couple is a romantic relationship between two people." She rushed out.

Shiki cocked his head to the side. "What's a romantic relationship? Is that like what we are?"

Rebecca paused in shock, sweet syrup pooling over the side of the plate in excess. Shaking herself, she placed the syrup bottle far away, patting the gooey mess down with a napkin before she shoved a large slice of the sticky pancake into her mouth.

"Uh no," She said around chewing, "we have what is called a platonic friendship. We don't kiss, or cuddle, we talk and laugh and have adventures. We're just friends."

Nodding sagely, Shiki finished his egg sandwich, downing the rest of his water. "I think I get it, so people in romantic relationships can't be friends? They just kiss and…whatever the other thing was?"

Sighing, Rebecca swallowed the large bite, shoving bacon into her mouth without hesitation. "I never said that. People in serious romantic relationships tend to be best friends too."

"Ohhhh, I like the sound of best friends. I want a best friend! How do I get one!" Shiki laughed, fidgeting in his seat. He looked around the diner, probably looking for someone to ask to be his best friend.

"You don't just get one, best friends are just friends that you've known for a while. Best friends are family. An example would be me and Happy. Happy is my best friend, and I am Happy's!"

Slouching Shiki crossed his arms. "Aww this is so confusing." He pouted, "So you and Happy have a romantic relationship?"

"No!" Both Rebecca and Happy chorused. Rebecca nearly swallowed her next bite of pancake whole.

"No," Rebecca repeated, patting her chest as the chunk of food went down hard, "no, no, no. A romantic relationship is special. It involves love. You know the feeling you had for the robots you cared for at Granbell? That's platonic love—or friendly love. Romantic love is what starts romantic relationships. It's this feeling in your chest. It's warm, and exciting, and terrifying, but so worth it."

Rebecca couldn't help the wistful sigh. Although she loved adventuring, she adored making videos and hanging out with Happy, so couldn't help but long for something more.

"Is that something you want?" Shiki asked, and Rebecca's heart gave a little stutter. He was staring at her, his expectant gaze making her feel hot.

"Well yeah," She whispered it like a secret, "Everyone wants to fall in love."

Shiki seemed thoughtful for all of two seconds. "It's settled then!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together as he stood from the booth.

"What's settled?" Happy looked to Rebecca for answers, but Rebecca could only shrug and offer a confused frown to the small cat. She gave up trying to understand Shiki the day she met him.

"You were my first human friend!" Shiki announced pointing at Rebecca with vigor, "So it's only fair that _I_ will be your first love!"

Rebecca gaped at the boy's declaration, all too aware of the attention he was rallying. Hunching her shoulders, she contemplated drowning herself in the pool of maple syrup. Beside her Happy giggled, and Rebecca sent him a side long glare. There was nothing funny about this situation!

"That's not exactly how love works Shiki." Rebecca replied, her voice shaky and loud much to her embarrassment.

"What do you mean?" Shiki's beaming smile soften just slightly.

"It's more, errr, complicated than that! You can't just announce that you're going to be someone's first love without there being feeling behind it." She gushed out, eyes squeezed shut as she heaved a calming sigh.

"If you say it's more complicated, then I guess it is." He laughed, 100 watt smile back to full brightness, "But I don't care, you can consider it a promise, we are going to have the best love!"

Rebecca jolted as murmurs broke out among the other diner patrons. She could hear an older couple that sat at the stools by the counter in front of them commenting about how cute they were. If only they knew.

Rebecca turned her gaze up to Shiki, preparing to yell at him to sit back down. But he was looking at her with such a bright smile, cheeks dusted pink, his dark eyes fill with more warmth than she had ever seen in them before.

This time, Rebecca actually did drown herself in the maple syrup spill. Anything was better than dealing with the constricting of her heart, and the butterflies fluttering in her tummy. This naïve boy would be the death of her. She was sure of it.

XxXx

So I read Hiro Mashima's new manga and obviously fell in love with Rebecca and Shiki. I couldn't help myself, so have some cute fluff I wrote while I should have been working.

Writing Playlist:

The Wave (feat. SATICA & SAKIMA) by AOBeats


End file.
